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Military Technology in United Trowo
Military technology in United Trowo and its respective dependencies are classified into 2 broad main catgories, namely Offensive and Defensive technologies. Due to the multitude of wars fought before the formation of the current republic, as well as the general mentality of isolationism with respect to any potential hostile extraterrestrial civilization, military technology is relatively well developed. On the contrary, even though financial resources are poured into research and developement, not much money is funneled to amassing said technology. Military research is primarily based on the planets Trowo (System Trowo), Sijen (System Sýlýrónth) and Vercambris (System Sýlýrónth), with funding primarily coming directly from the central government at Trowo. Some planetary sub-governments conduct their own research free from the purview of the central government, leading to interesting specializations in offensive and defensive weaponry. Such technology are protected by law to not be automatically the intellectual property of the central government, making them highly profitable industries in those systems. Clandestine organizations and on occasion separatist groups conduct their own research and may produce unstable weaponry/shielding technology. The following technology listed are those which are regularly used in training and on occasion, against terrorists. *''Note to reader: Technology here is based upon conventional physics as well as some... suspension of it''* Offensive Technology Offensive technology are classified into 4 broad categories: Physical, Chemical, Biological and Technological. C,B and T weaponry will not be discussed in this article. 'Physical Weaponry' Physical weaponry is classified into 5 categories: Kinetic, thermal, incendiary, explosive and unconventional. Physical technology refers primary to the exchange of energy (mostly transfering energy to the target) resulting in the termination of the target's function. Different types of physical weaponry might be utilized to counter the target's defences. 'Kinetic Weaponry' Kinetic weaponry refers to use of kinetic energy to terminate the the target. This includes conventional guns, kinetic bombardment, coilguns and railguns. Kinetic bombardment refers to releasing inert rods of extremely resistant and dense metals like tungsten, uranium or osmium from orbit and allowing them to fall under gravity to impact the target. Due to the speed at which the impactors impact the target, this is a relatively inexpensive yet deadly type of kinetic weaponry. For example, a 50kg tungsten rod may impact planetary installations with over 100 tons of TNT (depending on the gravitational field strength), without any radioactive fallout. It is known in Unitican as Kamórnyl. They are extremely rare in United Trowo due to the pre-requisite of possessing orbital superiority first. Coilguns and railguns both refer to the acceleration of ammunition (explosive or not, most often not) to hypervelocities with the usage of electromagnetic fields. Railguns use a sliding armature (with the projectile riding it) that acts as a circuit completer (causing a Lorentz force) while coilguns simple accelerate a projectile by accurately timing the activation of solenoids ahead of the projectile. These weapons are extremely energy intensive, with the largests requiring their own dedicated power plants to keep them operational. Even medium sized coil/rail guns are able to 1 shot most shields, the largests of which are able to take down city sized shields in a single strike. Their drawbacks are their energy consumption as previously mentioned, as well as their extremely low rate of fire. Most railguns have to be replaced after a set number of firings due to wear and tear of the barrel. The largests of such weapons may be found on orbital defence platforms protecting the most important worlds in United Trowo, as well as mounted on the largest capital ships and destroyers. 'Thermal Weaponry' Thermal weaponry refers to the use of concentrated beams of electromagnetic energy (primarily lasers and masers) and plasma to heat up a target. Lasers have developed to the point where X-ray lasers are possible, though those lasers are extremely rare. Lasers are mounted on most ships due to their ability to pass relatively unimpeded through shields, their extremely fast projectile speed (the speed of light obviously), and the ability to be fired more often than other forms of weaponry. Lasers can also be used in close quarter combat with the intention to maim and/or temporarily blind the opponent when used at lower power consumptions. Laser weapons do tend to heat up pretty fast, necessitating the use of some form of cooling systems. Most lasers on battleships and tanks use liquid cooling, while laser rifles use air cooling. The strongest of such lasers are able to melt shield-class ship armor in minutes, and incinerating buildings and underground structures in the same amount of time. Plasma accelerators use magnetic fields to project a mass of plasma at the target. A target material (usually xenon or Teflon) is first ionized using a microwave. It is then passed into a chamber where strong magnetic fields accelerate the plasma towards the desired target. It deals both kinetic and thermal damage, with stronger vehicle mounted accelerators capable of blowing/melting holes through concrete walls. Due to the gas-like nature of plasma, it is uneffective at long ranges, especially when used in an atmosphere. However, certain accelerators also utilize a small magnetic core which it projected at the same time as the plasma, allowing the plasma to be held together (until it cools down and loses its conductive properties). Such specialized PAs are only found in destroyers, space destroyers and in orbital/space superiority fighters. Most hand-held plasma rifles are only effective at up to 200m. Sniper rifles do not use plasma weaponry as plasma is bright, signalling the position of the sniper to the enemy. Plasma's drawbacks are its ineffectiveness against shields and its heat generated during firing. 'Incendiary Weaponry' Incendiary weaponry overlaps with thermal and chemical weaponry with its use of highly oxidizing chemicals. Containers of such chemicals may be dropped on shields where upon impact they break open and unleash napalm fire which can then pass through the shield. Most incendiary weaponry are often integrated into projectiles and other explosives to maximize their effectiveness, though napalm does exist as standalone. Due to their effects on the human physiology, usage is banned in most places. 'Explosive Weaponry' Explosived weaponry refers to chemical, vapour, electromagnetic, nuclear and antimatter explosions, the most common of which are chemical explosives. These refer to all manners of explosive devices such as missiles, rockets, cluster bombs, aerial bombs, mines and grenades. Nuclear fission/fusion devices are almost always never used due to their radioactive fallout, though certain planetary governments possess a small stockpile of such weapon in the interest of defence. Antimatter explosives are extremely rare due to the difficulty in manufacturing and storing antimatter. The largest of such bombs, The Sentoplanktoz, ''merely contains 2kg of antimatter and has to be stored under 5 layers of backup and redundancy, for a 86MT yield. If power was cut of to the bomb, it would instantly detonate, due to its method of storage. Hence, due the high chance of accidental detonation, most antimatter devices are positioned off planet in orbital installations. 'Unconventional Weaponry' Unconventional weaponry refers to weapons which may not cause bodily harm, or are not under any of the above classification. Some examples may include Electromagnetic Pulse bombs (EMPs), Particle Accelerator Cannons (PACs), muon guns, shield resonance destabilizers and electrical-based weaponry. EMPs are primarily used to disable electronic devices and weaker shields. They may or may not also carry secondary thermal/explosive capabilities. PACs are very large weapons that are mounted on planetary orbital defence and the largest of capital ships. Their speed of projectile (over 99% c) and high luminosity (or radiation flux) causes instant destruction of most unshielded electrical devices, and high-flux PACs can even cause entire ships to be destroyed by radiation. At lower doses, most living things are killed from radiation, leaving structures untouched (with a small dose of radiation that rapidly decays). Muon guns are specialized PACs that are much smaller weapons that have limited range, yet deal a large amount of radiation damage that decays away rapidly. They are primarily used as anti-personnel weapons. Neutron guns are used as shield-piercing directed-energy weapons due to their lack of electrical charges are so are only slightly affected by shields (because they still possess a magnetic moment). However at extremely high speeds and utilized against smaller shields, they effectively bypass shields to deal a large amount of radiation damage. However, radiation resulting from this form of weaponry tends to last much longer. Shield resonance destabilizers aim to match the frequency of the EM field of the shield and project a similary wave to destructively interfere with a targeted part of a shield. That targeted part can then be bypassed. However this relies on have some knowledge of the shield frequency and is relatively useless on very strong shields. A close distance between the device and the shield is also required, making SRDs a niche application in combat, primarily being carried by infantry troops (FIBUA) to infiltrate smaller installations. Lastly, electrical-based weaponry are primarily used to incapacitate humans and well as to directly damage shield generators. Tasers are used to incapacitate criminals/enemies at close range. Laser-lightning guns (LLGs) are used to overload and directly damage shield generators from a appreciable distance. A powerful laser first ionizes the air, turning it into a plasma, which then conducts electricity. A powerful gun then generates a current that flows along the plasma and impacts the shield, which then follows the field lines to directly hit the shield generator. Smaller shield generators are instantly destroyed using such weapons. Larger shield generators can be destabilized using such weapons. Defensive Technology Most defensive technology in the current times refer to electromagnetic force-fields (known simply as shields), reflective/specular armor, reactive armor and heat resistant armor. Active and passive forms of defense are also utilized in combat. 'EM Shields' EM shields are specialized electromagnetic fields generated by a specialized solenoid. They are then focused through low magnetic-reluctance materials to form a thin barrier (usually no more than 2m thick) in all directions which then return to the solenoid from the other pole. This concentration of field lines into a small space creates a high magnetic flux that blocks almost every single material from entry due to the Lorentz force or the Diamagnetic effect. This means however that some paramagnetic materials/metals are able to enter the shield if they move slow enough to prevent disastrous heating/outward force. This can and is usually exploited against. Using a stronger magnetic field can overcome this to the point of restricting even the movement of air in/out of the shield, which by then causes a shimmering effect as the air itself is ionized due the magnetic flux. Needless to say, ferromagnetic materials are effectively permanetly lodged on the shield's surface should they come close enough, which is sometimes utilized by defenders as an "armour" of sorts. Because the EM field is a barrier to movement, ionizes anything it touches (when strong enough), and extends 360 to form a donut of sorts around the shield generator, most shield designs incoporate a "shield base system". This is to prevent the ground itself from turning into lava (due to ground interacting with the shield), and well as a system to more safely intercept incoming projectiles/fires/plasma. This base conists of a ring of magnetic material which is then connected back to the shield generator in the form of long spokes (imagine a wheel). The more spokes the base contains, the more even the shield produced will be. This ring is usually a fortified wall (for obvious reasons), and may contain entrances and exits (this introduces weakness however). Shields also have an intrinsic frequency which they are produced at. A stronger shield typically possess a field a higher frequency. Shield gens typically oscillate their frequencies at randomly and unpredictably to prevent resonance destabilization attacks. It is to be noted that movement is also prevent outwards, not only inwards, therefore shields must be dropped/deactivated when trying to assault incoming forces. Advanced bases may sychronize their defensive weaponry to the shield generator, allowing it to drop the shield at the split instance as the projectile passes through the shield. As the field forms around the generator at the speed of light, no "restart" time is needed. Even though shields are practically indestructable (since it is a field, not an object after all), their generators and their solenoids are not. The momentum of projectiles impacting the shield is still transferred to the generator, so powerful railguns are able to destroy the solenoid by indirectly smashing it. Large, more powerful shield generators typically have kinetic absorbers, mass dampers and multiple backup solenoids to counter such attacks. For an example, the shield generator protecting the capital city Alto Risé contains over 50 backup solenoids and can resist a 100MJ railgun strike with ease. Shields are not used a personal device as they interfere with electronic devices and their inability to form a complete shell around the soldier. They are primarily used in space combat and in protecting stationary installations. 'Armor' Armor is the quintessential form of defence for every form of combat. Other than traditional forms of armor, specular armor and reactive armor are utilized. These specialized armors are used on specialized ships as they may not provide the correct form of defence and in some cases might be detrimental. Specular armor are conventional armor with the addition of mirrored surfaces. They do not form a uniform surface but are instead jagged on a microscopic level.They are used if laser weapons are deemed to be primary arsenal of the enemy (as lasers pass through shields). When lasers strike the surface, a large percent (up to 99.99%) of the energy is reflected away. The remaining energy is absorbed by the armor below, which is typically a high heat capacity, high melting point material, such as graphite/aerogel composites. This in turn rests upon a layer of conventional armor, such as titanium alloy/steel. Some more advanced armor may even incoporate a form of liquid cooling in the base layer. However because a vehicle can only carry a certain weight, specular armor provides far less protection against explosives and kinetic weaponry than conventional armor. Reactive armor are defences against armor piercing weaponry, such as PIBD shaped-charge weaponry. The armor consists of a layer of low explosives (such as gunpowder) sandwiched between 2 layers of conventional armor. When the shaped charged projectile (usually superheated copper) passes through the first layer, the explosive detonates, pushing the superheated jet away from the object of interest. Repeated attacks in the same area or tandem-charges render this form of armor useless. 'Active Defence''' Active defence refers to the use of a type of defence that is deployed only if a threat is present. Active defence used in United Trowo are Corralable Glass Shards (CGSs), Laser Defence, Electromagnetic Counter-Measures (ECMs), Chaff and Deployable Arrmor. CGSs (basically advanced chaff) are essentially clouds of tiny glass particles that are projected by vehicle that persist in the air (or space) due to their extremely low mass. Through the use of static electricity and electric fields, they can be repositioned to be placed in the line of fire, although these fields do not extend very far. CGSs disperse oncoming laser light, and dense clouds can completely obscure line of sight. Some CGSs may contain other materials to disperse light at different wavelenghts, such as radio to scramble radar. They are easily dispersed by explosives or high winds. Laser Defence involves active monitoring of incoming projectiles. These projectiles are vaporized by high intensity laser pulses that turns them into plasma, which usually disperses before it reaches the object of interest, due to its gas-like nature (if struck from far enough away). They however do nothing to coilgun/railgun weaponry due to their sheer speed. Certain hypervelocity dumb-fire missiles may also be fast enough to impact the object before being vaporized. ECMs typically involve concentrated pulses of electromagentic energy to temporarily/permanently disorientate enemy target-locking devices or guided projectiles. Depending on their strength, they may scramble target-locking mechanisms from over 10-100km out. This can however, be countered by speed of projectile. Chaff is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of Aluminium, metallized glass fibre or Metallized film plastic, which either appears as a cluster of primary targets on radar screens or swamps the screen with multiple returns. Depending on where it is deployed, it is a cheap form of rendering obsolete enemy guided weaponry. Lastly, Deployable Armor involves projecting a part of the armor protecting the object at the oncoming projectile. This involves a detonating charge at the base of the armor, which then slams into the oncoming projectile, taking away a percentage or even all of its kinetic energy. Explosive weaponry are extremely vulnerable to this form of defence. Category:United Trowo Category:Technology Category:Military